From Blues to Blooms
by k80-dandeepwah
Summary: Dexter is discouraged by his family's antics until he finds himself feeling sweet for a certain someone.


The late Spring sunshine beat down on the little family in their lush green backyard as they enjoyed a Saturday at their own pool. A single red and white striped umbrella close to the shallow end provided some, but little shelter to the ones who had a tendency to burn up in that kind of weather; Mom kicked back underneath it on the faded white fold-up chair in her fetching olive-green bikini and dark sunglasses, calmly monitoring her son and daughter's water activities. Dad was still getting ready inside the house. A loud shrill scream echoed off of the walls of their neighbor's walls, as well as their own.

"Waaaa-HOOO!" the lanky blonde girl squealed while she made her last bounce on the edge of the diving board. Mom slid her shades down her nose to watch with a cautious eye... Long arms and legs outstretched, the girl dived enthusiastically into the bright blue water. The splash created large and quick ripples, and the water continued to move across the surface until it stopped to lap hungrily at a short little boy's pale feet. The girl guffawed, then doggie-paddled toward the nearest ladder. She crawled out onto the grass to join her mother under the umbrella for a break; she wiped excess water from her face and exclaimed, "Whew! It's cooking out here!"

Taking a seat upright, she called to her younger brother, "Hey Dexter, why don't you take a dip and cool off? It's okay now, Dad's still inside getting ready...

Dexter didn't respond. He dipped his small feet into the water feebly and daydreamed about his latest experiment that waited for him in his shiny blue kingdom underground... If only he could opt out of the family get-together and tend to his highly-advanced android assistant... And escape the pending doom of his father's secretly-planned pranks... The boy genius gave a grunt and kicked indignantly at the chlorinated liquid. He went to dry his feet, unconcerned with social interaction as he always was. As he went by the edge just before reaching the sliding glass door, he felt a swift sideways blow on the right side of his rear, then saw blue, then black, then some more blue... It was so quick, and it did not take long for Dexter to realize he was in grave danger. He found himself flailing his stubby arms and legs through the heavy body of water, and gasped as he came up for what little air he could get. He was sure he was through until his mother rushed to his aid. She retrieved her non-swimmer son, and his dad's dopey laugh could be heard. Mom got her son settled down and handed the trembling scientist a dry towel. Soon his fear faded quickly into fury, like the colors in an old novelty mood ring does on occasion. He should've been used to Dad pushing him into the pool whenever he got the chance. Dexter could never figure out why his sister Dee Dee was never the butt of any jokes in the family, and it had to be him who was. The remaining three dispersed; Mom and Dad lounged together and sunbathed while Dee Dee thrashed around the pool with her inflatable animal toys. He remembered that Dee Dee's idiot friends were visiting for a bit, so he tensed up, expecting two more long-bodied ballerinas to jump at him and beg to play in his laboratory. But so far so good... He also remembered that he felt more relaxed whenever Lee Lee came along with Dee Dee and Mee Mee. He even found himself thinking about her sporadically throughout the day. Maybe he could change his ways for a little while and let the dark-haired girl in... And get to know her better. Dexter finally made it into the kitchen safe and sound. He closed the door, felt the table for his glasses, and put them on before drying his ginger locks. Dressed into her dry clothes again, Lee Lee hummed as she looked around for something to eat. She turned from the fridge and acknowledged him, smiling. A dash of pink appeared on her cheeks as she giggled and looked away,

"Oh, hi Dexter."

And she turned back to the open fridge, clearly pretending to concentrate on finding what she looked for. Dexter draped the towel over the back of a chair, sat on another one, and quickly looked away, head heating up. After the surprise ran its course, the boy propped a bare hand under his chin. That same giddiness he felt from thoughts of her caused a smile to creep its way across his face; it grew bigger as he finally got to sit in the same room with the lanky Asian girl. Dexter halted his thoughts right before they made him melt into a puddle. He said,\par

"Whatcha making?"

"Oh, I'm looking for cookies or ice cream, but I can't find any..."

"Good luck finding them! My mom is too good at hiding the treats!" Dexter complained.

She closed the door in the appliance, leaned against it, and huffed. Then the boy genius remembered that Mom got things to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with.

"Well, we can enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich each!"

"Yay!" Then Lee Lee got the fixings out to make sweet sandies for both of them. Thinking of solutions always made Dexter very happy, and seeing his friend's face light up after his suggestion augmented that feeling. They were quiet, for they didn't know what to say at the moment. Dexter twiddled his thumbs while he watched Lee Lee finish up their snack. Dexter suppressed the need to break the ice. If he did say something, it might not have made sense, so what's the use? His new friend finished and brought the sandwiches over to the table. They dug in. More silence. The hint of awkward was apparent, and it floated in between them like smoke from a burning incense stick. His gaze would fall onto her for a split second, then dart out the window once again. The girl seemed more comfortable in the moment than he was; she was the one who would sneak a longer peek at her friend's little brother, and when he caught her, she'd look away and giggled as softly as she could. Dexter found himself in the presence of Lee Lee quite often, and without intention those days. There were the times when no one wanted to be his partner during labs, but Lee Lee would volunteer, and a lot! It was clear that Lee Lee liked to be around him, and the boy genius recently began to pick up on it, and found a few things he liked about her as they got to know each other. She was very smart, but didn't show it because she'd be considered uncool by her peers, but she was elated to finally be herself in front of someone, and it was none other than Dexter. Soon they spent time on the playground, and one time even after school when Dee Dee would bring along her and Mee Mee for dance practice and sleepovers. He realized he was getting more and more comfortable around her, and figured he would eventually follow through with letting her into the lab to work with him. He also knew he couldn't keep looking away for too long or she might think he was upset with her. He sighed, and turned back to her.

"Wow, I'm stuffed! Now what should we do?" said Lee Lee.

Dexter needed someone to race against him in his new video game, so he suggested that. Lee Lee exclaimed,

"Yayyyy! I'm gonna kick your butt on that one!"

"Not if I do first!" Dexter replied, and the two went up to his room and played for awhile.

Later on Dexter changed out of his dry clothes once again to use the unoccupied pool that evening. The midday sunshine warmed things up, so it was a comfortable lukewarm feel; perfect. Mom, Dad, and Dee Dee went to pick up some pizza for dinner, and Lee Lee and Dexter wanted to stay behind. It was suggested by his parents that the pool not be used without supervision, but the two were rebellious and did it for the thrill. He waited for Lee Lee to get back into her swimsuit while he slowly drifted in the water inside an innertube. It didn't take long for Lee Lee to appear in the back door wearing a green one-piece suit with a towel hanging from her arm. She threw it down, ran up to the deep end, and did a cannonball before Dexter could even turn his head. Oh no, not again! He whined internally, and held onto the tube for dear life...He squinted his eyes shut, then opened them as the silly girl swam up to him and laughed, "Aw, sorry Dex! I scared you didn't I?"

"...Y-NO!" he yelled, but smiled slyly as he got his revenge. He splashed his friend from the sides of the floating tube, and she laughed some more and spluttered when water got into her mouth. Dexter did the same when she splashed him with her feet, but fortunately he was enjoying himself. Then she swam toward him gently and held onto his tube, and the two gazed up at the stars that flecked the night sky. Dexter quizzed her like he did a lot.

"...Name a constellation."

"...Um...There's Orion I think."

"Good!" he told her. And they continued for awhile longer. Then Dee Dee's friend said to him,

"So, do you remember the time you crashed our girls-only sleepover that one time? And you acted like a monkey? And..."

"-You thought it was 'cute,' huh?" Dexter finished for her, blushing but increasingly confident as time went on.

"Yeah, 'it' was. But...It was cute when \i you\i0 did it-well, you were always that way, I think-"

The young scientist was flattered. She actually said it. Now it was his turn to tell her what he thought. He told her,

"Uh, thanks. Well, I like when you pick me as your partner in class. It's rare to find someone who likes the same stuff I do, and I just like spending time with you. You're not the stoopid girl I once thought you were...And, I...Think you're cute too, Lee Lee. Let's get together more."

He impressed himself with how calm and collected he was. It was a hurdle worth crossing... The awkward was officially gone.

"Yay, you're my BOYFRIEND now." And the young ballerina got closer, and held his head in her hands. She squished his cheeks as she pulled him towards her and gave him a peck on the cheek. Dexter froze, but smiled. Even though he felt dizzy all of a sudden, he felt it right to return the favor, and reached forward to kiss his girlfriend on her cheek. The two giggled for a good minute, and gazed at each other for another thirty seconds. They heard Dad's noisy old station wagon pull up, and they mouthed "Oh no!" to each other and thrashed toward the edge to get out. They separated slightly for the remainder of the night to avoid any suspicion, but little did they know, the parents would find out eventually. Their wet hair would surely give them away, but neither of them worried about punishment for straying into the water when they weren't supposed to, when they had their fond memory of the night locked into their sweet little heads.


End file.
